Spraying device



, 3- N. c. FISCHER 2,307,206

SPRAYING DEVICE Filed March 14, 1940 INVENTOR IVOIG/W/i/V C /CHEQ BY em/e.

ATTORNEY Patented Jan. 5, 1943 2.307.206 mama nnvroa Norman 0. Fischer, Springfield, Mo., assimito Amour and Company,

tlon of Illinois o, 111., a corpora- Applicatlon March 14, 1940. Serial No. 823,845

6 Olaims. (Cl. 299-120) This invention relates to an improved nozzle and more particularly to a spray nozzle which is suitable for use in spray drying liquid materials such as milk, eggs, etc.

In my co-pending application Serial No. 273,- 311, filed May 12, 1939, I have described a novel nozzle construction which produces a desired wide angle cone of such material to be dried. The nozzle there described presents the least resistance to the flow of materials throughit and at the same time imparts a maximum of rotational movement to the particles as they leave the nozzle. The nozzle attains this desired end by providing an intermediate rotating zone where the forwardly moving materials are caused to rotate prior to their being passed inwardly to the whirl chamber adjacent to the nozzle aperture. In this construction the materials coming forwardly within the nozzle are first conducted through inclined channels or slots which cause the material to rotate in the annular chamber of the relatively large diameter, and are then conducted through inclined channels or slots into the whirl chamber which is of relatively small diameter.

It is essential that said nozzle be assembled and maintained so that the center of the whirl chamber is in line with the center of the aperture in the nozzle plate. In practice, it is extremely difiicult to assemble this'structure so that the center of the whirl chamber and the center of the aperture are on the same longitudinal axis. I have found, however, that any change in the centering relationship between the aperture and the whirl chamber causes the angle of cone of the sprayed material to change and the desired maximum contact is not obtained. I have also found that slight changes in the said centering relationship cause a major portion of the spray to be thrown to one side or another of the cone of spray, which has the effect of producing a great variation in particle size. Such a variation prevents uniform drying results.

An important object of this invention is to provide a construction which will permit and attain exact alignment of the center of the aperture in the nozzle plate with the center of the whirl chamber. In my improved construction a means is provided which engages the nozzle plate and also a wall of the body member containing the whirl chamber so that the wall of the whirl chamber will be disposed concentrically with the aperture in the nozzle plate.

As a more specific feature of my invention, the center of the whirl chamber is assembled and held in exact alignment with the center of the aperture in the nozzle plate by means of a ring, or annular wall, which fits about a shoulder in the transverse wall of the channeled body member and encloses the intermediate rotating zone and is concentric with said zone and with the whirl chamber. The said ring is also removably fitted into a recess in the nozzle plate which is concentric with the aperture therein. Therefore, when the structure is assembled, the aperture and the ring member and the whirl chamber will all be in concentric relationship and materials passing through the nozzle structure will issue from the aperture with the optimum cone angle of spray, and with more uniform size of the particles distributed in the spray,

The said ring is a short, hollow cylindrical body of any suitable material and it may, if desired, be fitted with slots or channels on one end to conduct materials forwardly through the nozzle structure and to correspond with the set of channels in the transverse wall of the body member which impart the first rotation to the material being sprayed. These slots are not an essential feature of the device however and the nozzle structure will operate well without such slots. I have found that the use of said ring member permits obtaining and maintaining the desired rate of flow and of the desired rotation of the liquid and furthermore enables me to obtain the correct concentric relationship between the nozzle aperture and the whirl chamber so that I am able to obtain a wide angle cone of sprayed material, bringing about maximum contact between the particles to be dried and the drying medium. These and other advantages will be more thoroughly understood in connection with the following detailed description as illustrated by the accompanying drawing in which:

Figure 1 is a cross sectional view of the nozzle completely assembled, the section being taken along its longitudinal axis;

Figure 2 is a perspective view of the body member for guiding the flow of materials within the nozzle;

Figure 3 is a perspective view of the nozzle plate; and

Figure 4 is a perspective view of the ring mem ber.

As illustrated in the drawing, A designates a casing or enclosure at the front of which is the disk C. B designates the body member or structure for guiding the flow of materials within the nozzle and D designates the ring, or cylindrical,

member for centering the assembly.

The casing A includes the cylindrical wall I threaded at both ends. At its rear end the wall I is connected to the supply conduit 2 by means of the connector 8 which is adapted to screw over the wall I to tighten the shoulder l of the supply conduit against the flange 5 extending inwardly of wall I, the washer 8 being interposed between the shoulder and the flange. At the front end. of wall I the connector I is employed to tighten the disk or forward wall C. carrying the ring member D. against the front of wall I, the washer ,2 being interposed between the disk and the front of the wall. It is understood that any suitable means may be used to secure the nozzle wall to the conduit at the rear and to the disk at the front.

The disk or forward wall C, is provided at its center with aperture 9, preferably countersunk at the interior surface of the disk with annular recess III. The countersunk opening permits the rotating mass to become focused on the center of of the aperture and presents abrasion and wearing away of one side or the other of this opening and thereby maintains the desired centering relationship. Annular channel I is recessed into the interior surface of disk C, concentric with aperture 9, and is wide enough to accommodate ring member D.

Structure B includes outwardly extending wall II of circular periphery which flts snugly into casing I, said wall having a front annular'recess I2 suitable to receive the rear edge of ring D. In the wall II are four slots I3 which are disposed at spaced positions about wall II and are each inclined in the same direction with respect to the longitudinal axis of the nozzle. Although in the nozzle illustrated these slots are four in number, other numbers of slots may be used.

The structure B also includes a forwardly protruding annular wall I I, the end of which abuts disk C. The interior of wall I4 forms the wall of the cylindrical whirl chamber I5. At spaced positions about the circumference of wall II are the slots I6 which extend through the wall I4 and open tangentially into the'whirl chamber I5. A suitable screw member I'I-is disposed axially of structure B and has its forward end extended to form the rear wall of whirl chamber I5. This screw is bound in position by nut I8 and lock washer I9. The body member B should be held.

forwardly against disk C and in the present construction this is done by means of spring 20.

The ring member D has the same outside diameter as wall II and fits snugly against the inside of casing I and its interior wall, which extends forwardly from wall II, forms the outer wall of the intermediate rotating zone, or annular chamber 2|. When the nozzle is assembled, the rearward end 22 of ring D abuts shoulder I2 of body member B and the forward end 23 fits intoannular recess I0 of disk C. As shown, rearward end 22 is fitted with slots 24 which correspond to slots I3 of wall II of body member B and, when assembled, are continuous with said slots I3. There are four of slots 24 shown but the number may be greater or less, depending upon the number of slots which it is desired to have in wall II, or there may be no slots in ring member D corresponding to the slots in wall II, in which case the assembled nozzle will also operate satisfactorily. The ring D may be of any suitable material, preferably of a hard metal or alloy, such as bronze, since the rotation in'the intermediate rotating zone creates a substantial 7 abrasive action tending to wear away. the inner surface.

In assembling this nozzle structure. the ring member D is fltted into annular recess I. of disk C so that it is then in concentric relationship with aperture 8. Bodymember B is-then placed so that end 22 of ring D abuts shoulder l2 and the periphery of circular wall II is continuous with the exterior wall of ring D. Thereupon. whirl chamber I5 and annular chamber 2|, are also in concentric relationship with aperture I and the desired cone angle will be obtained in the spraying operation.

In assembling a spray nozzle of the type in which the whirl chamber communicates with an aperture in the disk it is important that the central axis of the whirl chamber be in alignment with the aperture and in practice it is difficult to attain this end. It has been necessary to accomplish this result by trial and error, by assembling the nozzle structure and trying out its operation, then dismantling and adjusting the relationship of the parts upon re-assembling. Frequently a large number of such trials have been necessary before the correct alignment was obtained. I have overcome these difllculties by means of my invention which enables me to ob-. tain the desired alignment of the central axis of the whirl chamber with the aperture immediately upon assemblng the nozzle structure.

The foregoing detailed description has been given for cleamess of understanding only, and no unecessary limitations should be understood therefrom, it being understood that many changes maybe made in the details of construction without departing from the spirit of the i v vention.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is:

1. A spray nozzle comprising a casing having a cylindrical interior, a disk secured to the forward end of said casing having an aperture at its center aligned with the central axis of said cylindrical interior and having an annular recess in its inner surface concentric with said aperture, a

1y extending annular flange of lesser diameter than said wall and having its central axis aligned with said aperture, said annular flange containing channels which lead tangentially therethrough, a ring member having its rearward edge engaged in said front annular recess and having its forward edge fitting into the annular recess in said disk, said ring providing the outer wall of an annular chamber extending about said annular flange. and means for holding said annular flange tightly against said disk to form a closed :vhirl chamber communicating with said aperure.

2. A spray nozzle of the character set forth comprising a cylindrical casing, a forward wall containing an aperture, a body member in said casing for guiding the flow of material therethrough and having a rearward transverse wail containing inclined channels to impart a rotating motion to materials passing through said channels, said body member having a whirl chamber at its forward end communicating with inclined channels in said transverse wall of said body member.

3. A spray nozzle of the character set forth comprising an enclosure containing a body member for guiding the flow of materials therethrough and containing a" chamber at its forward end for receiving rotating materials, a ring member in centering engagement with said body member and extending longitudinally of the enclosure; and providing the outer wall of said annular chamber and a forward wall containing an aperture communicating with said chamber, said forward wall having also an annular recess concentric with said aperture and adapted to receive the forward end of said ring member to maintain the central axis of said whirl chamber in alignment with said aperture.

4. A spray nozzle of the character set forth comprising an enclosure containing a body member for guiding the flow of materials therethrough and having a whirl chamber at its forward end, a forward wall containing an aperture communicating with said whirl chamber, said body member having a rearward transverse wall containing inclined channels to impart a rotating motion to material passing through said channels, and a ring member having its rearward edge in centering engagement with said transverse wall and having its forward edge removably engaging said forward wall to maintain'the centraLaxis of said whirl chamber in alignment with said aperture, said ring member providing the outer-wall of a chamber within the enclosure for receiving the rotating material.

5. A spray nozzle of the character set forth comprising an enclosure containing a body member for guiding the flow of materials therethrough and containing a whirl chamber at its forward end and an annular chamber about said whirl chamber, a ring member. in centering engagement with said body member and extending longitudinally of the enclosure, said ring member providing the outer wall 'of said annular chamber, and a orward wall containing an aperture communica ing with said whirl chamber, said forward wall having an annular recess concentric with said aperture and adapted to receive the forward end of said ring member, whereby a wall of said ring member frictionally engages said forward wall.

6. A spray nozzle of the character set forth comprising an enclosure containing a body member for guiding the flow of materials therethrough and having a chamber at its forward end, said body member being equipped with means for imparting a rotating motion to material passing through the same and into said chamber, a forward wall containing an aperture communicating with said chamber, and a ring member having its rearward edge in centering engagement with said body member and having its forward edge in interlocking engagement with said forward wall to maintain the central axis of said chamber in alignment with said aperture, said ring member providing the outer wall of said chamber. NORMAN C. FISCHER. 

